MANILA, July 18 — Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Ramon Lopez met Tuesday a team from the European Union (EU) Parliament visiting Manila.
The delegation was led by member of EU Parliament from Sweden Soraya Post.
DTI and the visiting EU Parliament team discussed bilateral relations between the Philippines and EU, particularly political and economic matters.
During the meeting, Lopez stressed that the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs “has always been anchored on the tenets of human rights and the rule of law”.
He also cited the 82-percent approval rating of President Rodrigo Duterte in the latest Pulse Asia survey released Monday, noting that majority of Filipinos feel safer with the leadership of President Duterte.
Moreover, the DTI chief highlighted the benefits of the EU Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), which provided zero duty on 6,274 Philippine products entering the EU market.
He said the EU GSP+ has provided greater trade and economic opportunities between the Philippines and EU.
It was also assured to the delegation that the Philippine government ensures that it complies with the EU GSP+ monitoring requirements.
Lopez also encouraged the EU to strengthen its economic relations with the Philippines, making the country as hub to reach various markets in which the country has free trade agreements.
Meanwhile, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that bilateral trade between the Philippines and EU in January to May 2017 reached USD6.66 billion.
It was noted that exports to EU in the same period rose 43 percent to USD4.0 billion this year from USD3.0 billion in 2016.
In terms of investments, EU was the largest source of investments of the Philippines in first quarter of 2017 amounting to PHP10.3 billion. (Kris M. Crismundo/PNA)
